AI, Automation, and the Future of Driving (and Life)

We are living in the age of automation, and there’s very little we can do to stop it. Grocery stores have self-checkout, pumping gas is mostly self-serving now, especially if you have a tap to pay method available, remote delivery robots roam the streets of Los Angeles, and even in a Denny’s restaurant there is a robot server. It really feels like we are living in the future (minus the flying cars).

Of course, cars and other vehicles have also benefited greatly from the boom in technology, and brand-new models have all kinds of automated features that were once thought to be science fiction. Some cars are already testing the waters with automated driving features, so it stands to reason that soon we’ll be looking at a driverless world, where we are catered from one place to the next without any need to do it ourselves.

A 5-Year Forecast

So, with all of the advancements being made, what do we think the world will be like in 5, 10, or even 15 years? It might sound pretty nice to have everything automated, which would possibly bring the costs of transportation down, but how would that impact the lives around us? Self-driving cars and vehicles would eliminate an entire sector of employment. There are already fears that robot cooks are going to replace workers in the food industry, so is this really something we can look forward to with a positive attitude?

In short, we should look at it in a positive light, because it will help bring a better standard of living to society as a whole. As people shuffle out of jobs due to economic and societal changes, there will be many other opportunities that come to be available. There will be a need for workers to build, maintain, and design the future robot work force. There will be some growing pains, but society has always benefited from technological advancements, and going forward it will be no different.

Don’t Get Scared

It’s also important to remember that this is many years away. We might say that in a span of 5-15 years we’ll have all robot servers and driverless cars, but the reality is that most things will probably be fairly similar to how they are now. Cars will have better safety and navigation features, but you have to remember that we don’t even have a guideline in place for driverless cars yet. The best thing right now is the goal to make all new cars EV’s and carbon neutral (bio-fuel and hydrogen driven) vehicles by 2035. Until we can really control how we build and run our cars with different energy sources, the rest is still very much science fiction.

It’s also worth talking about the idea of a driverless car has been around for a number of years already. But even with one of the top electric car manufacturers working on it, the technology is still buggy and, in some cases, has proven to have catastrophic results. In the years to come, we may see better applications of car driving technology, but it likely won’t be anywhere near what is needed to change society (yet).

Technology To Focus On

So, is car technology worth paying attention to? Absolutely!

While drivers are still very much needed in 99% of transportation cases today, the technology that helps to keep them safe is progressing quickly and changing the fundamentals of the driving experience. Soon cars will implement HD digital camera systems with all types of detection technologies, including those that are capable of viewing not only front and back, but all around, including sides of the car. There is also motion detectors that alert us when another car, person, or even animal is too close, and we have vehicles that can link to our phones for extra security features or just give us some nice perks (turning on seat warmers before we even get in). With the help of AI, our activities are predicted, so auto accidents will be avoided by the use of these technologies.

The technology in your car is on par with modern day computers, and more than one manufacturer have implemented large displays that give you control to the systems of your car and insights that you never would have had before.

Saving Time and Giving Peace of Mind

While the future of tomorrow still seems like a long way away, we still have a lot in the world of today that we can be thankful for. Technological advances have (mostly) proven to enrich our lives and help us spend more time on the things and people we want. Tasks that used to take days now take hours. As new technology is developed there comes a need to have workers who understand how to use it and improve on it. History tends to repeat itself. In the 18^th century we updated manufacturing process driven by the invention of steam engines. During the 20^th century, we continued with electrification of home appliances, which freed up manual labor tasks for home makers. Now we come to the 21^st century, another huge step, in this sense, we are looking at the beginning of a lifestyle revolution. It will be very intriguing to see what this AI world will have to offer…

The future of tomorrow isn’t here yet, but once it is, it will be a fantastic thing to witness.